A dedicated volunteer for the cancer charity Pals has died at 78.

Janet Grayston backed charities such as Meals on Wheels, but supported Pals for decades, especially after she lost her husband, Peter, to cancer.

The annual Peter Grayston Memorial Walk from John Smith’s Bay in Smith’s raised thousands each year for the cause.

She also successfully battled cancer, telling The Royal Gazette in 2010: “When I first volunteered, I had no idea that cancer would affect me personally.

“And now I have seen it from both sides, from being a volunteer and my husband being a patient and myself having cancer. I guess I do bring a different perspective.”

She was originally from Devon in England and moved to Bermuda with her family as a child.

She married her husband in 1962 and they had four children: Michael, Julie, Lauren and David.

Her daughter Julie called her “a wonderful person, giving and kind — everywhere she worked or volunteered, she amassed a great group of friends and always kept in touch”.

She added: “When it came to cancer, she just powered through it, always with a smile on her face.”

Mrs Grayston also worked at the store Creative Interiors and became “an ambassador for the island” during her work at the Visitor’s Service Bureau.